# Reading Alexander - a [[book club]] - [[pull]] [[patterning]] ## [[2021-05-26]] - I read what we agreed to read :) - [[patterns]] - [[pattern chosen]] - proposal: design a space following the example in the introductory material? 10-20 patterns combined. - [[xxxv]] for example - [[xxxviii]] for [[procedure]] - [[code]] a generator? - fit between patterns seems represented by recommended patterns at higher and lower level? - [[armengol]] some problems perhaps - we need to imagine a need for building something? what would be the context for the exercise? - [[andreas]] - would probably recommend people just go to [[a pattern language]] directly, it seems to be self-contained - did something with [[a pattern language]] ~1y ago - it just seems like previous reading wouldn't help learning how to write your own patterns? - [[jonathan]] what would you recommend? - the ideological component sometimes doesn't resonate; the patterns themselves, which can be used and changed regardless of ideology, seem more generally useful. - [[simon]] this is framed as one big project (the three books). what's interesting: there is some goal of trying to provide a set of tools to shape one's environment. - [[notsof]] could almost be computed by a machine - whereas [[apl]] is very much grounded - [[abstract]] -> [[concrete]] - topic: what is [[timeless]] and [[beautiful]]. how the environment shapes us as much as we shape the environment. - the weakest patterns are the strongly [[utilitarian]]. the stronger ones are "spiritual" - some contradictions between patterns - he loves dense cities and lively areas - but he wants height limits and only building on 50% of the area - units per building - in a contemporary context a lot of the patterns are very difficult to achieve - aside: would be interesting to model fit/misfit between patterns even as we swap in/out some of them - pattern: [[filtered light]] - mentions how the perception of light gets softened if it's filtered; less high contrast, which is a nice quality. for living spaces softness is nice. - film makers think it makes objects more lively: e.g. leaves casting moving shadows. - third reason: speculative. stimulates us biologically (?) - could be socialized aesthetics instead. - when planning windows, this pattern is recommended. - [[armengol]] - pattern: [[window place]] - thought about this pattern within his home - previous place had an obviously amazing view -- you could see the [[sagrada familia]] - [[zen view]] is mentioned as related to this pattern, though, and it relates with something interesting that happened in the old place. the view was [[normalized]]. it became part of the background; like alexander says. - now have to go to a specific place to look at a view now. - [[q]] when trying to differentiate between the list of patterns - [[jonathan]] - [[four stories limit]] - ideology aside: main thing that bothered me in general. trying to justify things as [[natural]]. - "want to find a pattern that looks ridiculous" - in zurich: like [[hardau]] towers - some justification for this pattern has to do with mental health issues - people who live in high rises are less likely to go out into the world - [[sky bridges]] - feeling connected to the city life - [[andreas]] it seems very opinionated, it depends on one's preferences. you might not care about the misfits and have fits with your lifestyle. - [[simon]] four floors doesn't seem high density enough for city life. attitude towards skyrises changes a lot across cultures. singapore for example has a very different disposition towards them. - most sustainable density is about six floors. - the most antisocial aspect of high rises is to have parking-lot-to-living-floor. - isolation in high rises is a big problem though. - [[andreas]] there is a huge grey area between four floors and high rises - zurich proposed having public rooftops and bike lanes between them - [[simon]] - [[bus stop]] - liked: both describing a set of objects and activity/life that emerges around those objects - "if the knit together" the system is a good one - view things like traffic lights as items of public living - [[alice]] - [[interior windows]] - [[pedestrian street]] - social glue in society - streets that are "too wide" are antisocial -- but of course nowadays with covid-19 that might be outdated - [[eduardo]] - [[independent regions]] ## [[2021-05-12]] - [[ttwob]] - [[lorand]] - found himself reading in a less analytical way - [[armengol]] - the structure itself seems to encourage this - "I need to read it fast" yields a different kind of reading too, perhaps - [[lorand]] some pieces seem to be a bit rough. but interesting questions - the observation that people feel calm in nature -> homogeneity in aesthetics - ad hoc/rushed at the end: processes for using patterns for differentiation of space. differentiation vs accumulation - some vagueness - a bit tragic perhaps: towards the end, neighbors working together to make their houses beautiful. seemed a bit utopian in a modernist sense. - a [[pattern]] has a [[context]], a [[problem]] and a [[solution]] that resolves the set of conflicting forces. - embodiment as crucial vs the software patterns - [[kowloon walled city]] - [[tokyo 1960]] - [[wabi sabi]] - [[lorand]] - ## [[april]] - [[notsof]] - [[ttwob]] ## [[2021-03-17]] - [[ttwob]] ## [[2021-02-28]] - [[participants]] - [[jonathan]] - [[alice]] - [[architecture]]! - [[andreas]] - [[mtr]] [[graphic design]] - [[urban spaces]] - [[simon]] - [[architecture]]! - [[netherlands]] - [[ekin]] - [[mtr]] [[design]] [[visual arts]] - interested in [[mapping]]! - [[daniel]] - [[graphic design]], [[artistic practice]] - designed [[physical spaces]] - interested in translation between disciplines - [[eduardo]] - [[note taking]] ok? - yes for now :) - background: comp sci + linguistics - cooperative/group projects, mapping, modelling and abstraction, translation - [[katherine]] - [[artist]] in [[london]]